Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19980510.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm One Hundred And Ten - God's Route To Establishing His Overseers' Leadership If They Are Opposed
(Psalm 110:1-7)
  1. Introduction
    1. In this life, we are all arranged in groupings of people known as "institutions" (family, government, church and business), and such "institutions" have a "chain-of-command" of overseer(s) and subordinate(s).
    2. Invariably, those in oversight positions can face the challenge of relating to others where either subordinates or errantly competing folk may vie to counter or usurp the oversight of innocent overseers.
    3. The challenge for the rightful overseer is to stay upright in his role when the opposing, unjust overseer or subordinates don't operate according to the rules! That can seem like a futile uphill battle!
    4. Psalm 110 was written to answer this struggle so that rightful overseers can succeed uprightly as follows:
  2. God's Route To Establishing His Overseers' Leadership If They Are Opposed, Psalm 110:1-7.
    1. Psalm 110:1-7 initially applies to Christ's overcoming the opponents of His Messianic reign on earth:
      1. When David claimed that the "Jahweh" spoke UNTO David's "Adonai", he implied God spoke to Messiah where Messiah was David's Master, Ps. 110:1a. Since the Messiah comes from David's descendants, and yet is David's Master, then the Messiah has to be God, an idea that Jesus (Mtt. 22:41-46) and the Early Church (Acts 2:34-36) used to prove the divine nature of Messiah, Jesus.
      2. As such, Psalm 110:1-7 pictures the enthronement of Christ over His earthly opponents as follows:
        1. God the Father gave a divine oracle to Christ to sit at His right hand of authority and honor until the Father had made His enemies who rejected His earthly reign submit to Him, Ps. 110:1 and Heb. 1:3.
        2. God the Father then will extend Christ's reign from Zion amidst the opponents who rejected Him, and He will reign in Zion opposite the desires and efforts of His opponents, Ps. 110:2.
        3. To achieve this amazing turn of events in view of Christ's rejection, the Father would arrange for the following events: (a) He would cause Jesus to have very supportive followers amidst the efforts of competing, false opponents, Ps. 110:3; (b) The Father would cause Jesus to have an eternal priesthood besides His basic kingdom, a priesthood backed up by divine oath, Ps. 110:4; (c) Then (as I interpret it) the Father would cause the "Adonai" [Master] at Messiah's right hand, thus, God the Holy Spirit (since Jesus is already at the Father's ri ght hand, v. 1) to destroy unjust, competing kings in His wrath at the Great Tribulation, Ps. 110:5; (d) The Spirit would judge the nations so that the world will be subjected to Christ, Ps. 110:6; (e) Thus, Christ will be refreshed in the endeavor, overcoming past suffering of rejection as He assumes His post as King of the realm, Ps. 110:7.
    2. However, this psalm takes on a secondary application for all current godly human overseers as follows:
      1. In His promise to the overseer of the Laodicean Church, Jesus offered to "grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne," Rev. 3:21.
      2. Since we have found in former studies that the struggle in this church is that of the overseer's fighting resorting to ungodly force to offset insubordination or competing, unjust overseers, the same as Jesus faced (Rev. 3:21 "even as I overcame . . . "), Psalm 110:1-7 has indirect application to today as follows:
        1. If the godly overseer trusts God's revealed will regarding his oversight assignment, and acts uprightly, Christ will give him (by grace) authority and counter the opponents to his oversight, v. 1.
        2. Christ will cause him to lead despite the opposition of such opponents to the contrary, Ps. 110:2.
        3. Christ will cause subordinates to respond affirmatively to his oversight, Ps. 110:3.
        4. Christ will secure his position, possibly even granting him influence beyond the original role, 110:4.
        5. Christ will have the Holy Spirit go so far as to destroy opponents so that the rightful overseer can fulfill his God-assigned oversight task, giving him supreme influence in that position, Ps. 110:5-6.
        6. As a result, God will make the overseer encouraged over reversals of past oversight crises, 110:7.
Lesson: (1) Psalm 110:1 is a great verse to use to show the deity of Messiah, and thus the multiple Persons of the Godhead. (2) We have God's assurances that though He was rejected in His first coming as Israel's Messiah, God is determined that Je sus will reign out of Zion, and will stop at no opposition to see that this event occurs! (3) In our current Laodicean era, all overseers who are in rightful positions of oversight can trust and obey God to see Christ and the Holy Spirit stop at no opponent's efforts to establish them to fulfill God's will in oversight positions as described in Ps. 110!